Japan, Once a Nation of Emigrants: Recruiting Participants for 'Global Media Camp in Brazil' to Cover the Current Status and History of Japanese Immigrants

His wife died in childbirth, and his daughter... Brazil, in South America, is one of the world's leading immigrant nations. Indigenous peoples, whites (Portuguese, Spanish, Italians, Germans, Jews, etc.), blacks, Middle Easterners from Syria and Lebanon, and Asians, including those of Japanese descent... It is said that immigrants from 60 countries around the world have entered Brazil.

Brazil is the country with the largest number of people of Japanese descent in the world. Their number now stands at approximately 2.7 million, 1.7 times that of Japanese Americans.

The first ship to carry immigrants to Brazil was the "Kasato Maru." Nearly 120 years ago, in April 1908 (Meiji 41), it departed from Kobe Port, sailed around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, and arrived at Santos Port in São Paulo State, southeastern Brazil, approximately 50 days later, on June 18. There were 781 passengers.

After embarking on the greatest adventure of their lives and arriving in a new land, they might have expected a "rosy future," but the reality was the exact opposite. Japanese immigrants endured immense hardships.

They were treated like slaves, forced to work in the rural areas of underdeveloped Brazil (mainly coffee plantations) under the threat of pistols and whips, with low wages. Some succumbed to endemic diseases, wives died in difficult childbirth, daughters were raped on coffee plantations, and infants and young children died from malnutrition due to poverty.

In Brazil, immigrants from the East, including those of Japanese descent, were once ridiculed as "dangerous people who do not adapt to Brazilian society and have strange customs." A bill to prohibit the acceptance of blacks and yellow people (Orientals) was even submitted to the National Congress in 1933.

After the Japanese military attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, they were subjected to intense discrimination as "people from an enemy or defeated nation." It seems that a trend spread among Japanese immigrants to feel sad about having Japanese faces, to be ashamed of speaking Japanese, and to hide these facts.

From the perspective of Japanese immigrants, Japan started a war on its own and lost on its own. They may have felt strongly that they were caught up in it. The dream they initially envisioned of working for 5 or 10 years, saving money, and returning home in glory was completely shattered, and they had no choice but to give up returning to Japan and choose to live permanently in Brazil.

As generations progressed, with second and third generations, Japanese immigrants began to assimilate into Brazil. They have now established a solid position, producing ministers, federal parliamentarians, state parliamentarians, city councilors, and mayors.

In 2008, a commemorative ceremony for the 100th anniversary of Japanese immigration was held in Brazil, attended by President Lula. Overcoming a tragic past, Japanese immigrants have, over a century, come to be recognized for their contributions to Brazilian society.

Abandoned by Japan, replacing black slaves

As is well known, in recent years, "xenophobia" has rapidly emerged in developed countries, including Japan. But we must not forget that Japan also sent out many immigrants from the end of the Meiji era to the early Showa era. And that Japanese immigrants fought in foreign lands.

Moreover, immigration to Brazil and other countries was also a national policy of Japan. At that time, Japan was in a tragic situation due to the double punch of the Great Depression and poor harvests. In short, they were "abandoned people" (a transformation of "starving people") sent to Santos Port to "reduce mouths."

Deceived by the sweet words of the Japanese government, immigration companies, and immigration brokers, they came to the other side of the world to work, only to face the unreasonable reality that it was five times farther than Hawaii in the United States and the wages were one-fifth.

Furthermore, for the Brazilian government, after the abolition of slavery in 1888 (the latest in the world), it was convenient to introduce Japanese people as labor for coffee plantations instead of black slaves. They were, so to speak, quasi-slaves.

Not limited to Japanese, immigrants are swayed by various motives and external factors. However, unlike today, immigrants of that era, even if they wanted to return to Japan, could not do so easily.

First-generation immigrants endured anti-Japanese sentiment, different cultures, and war, while second and third generations received Brazilian education and rapidly assimilated into Brazilian society with the mentality of "Japan is the ancestral country, Brazil is the mother country." Just when it seemed their hardships had ended, that was not the case. The phenomenon of "reverse migration" to Japan occurred.

Why did they return to Japan?

The reason lies in the Brazilian economy. In the 1980s, Brazil was hit by hyperinflation exceeding 2000%, a period when the economy was at rock bottom. President Collor, who took office in 1990, even froze the bank deposits of ordinary citizens. Withdrawals from accounts were restricted.

In contrast, Japan at this time was in the midst of the bubble economy. A severe labor shortage also contributed, and the Japanese government revised the Immigration Control Act in 1990. It gave special treatment, granting residence permits to those with Japanese blood. Following this trend, Japanese immigrants who had migrated to Brazil and other South American countries now headed to Japan. They are still working in parts factories in places like Oizumi Town, Gunma Prefecture, and Komaki City, Aichi Prefecture.